My mother once locked me in the car, as an infant, and I probably would have panicked, had Freddie not been there to stay with me (and drool all over my baby-spit-on fingers).
For Halloween one year, my parents had me dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood, while Freddie donned a ghost costume (the biggest sheet we could find, with holes cut for eyes). Another costume Freddie wore was hand-made by my mother, and featured Freddie as a circus clown.
Skippy was also a very talented escape artist (and nobody but me and my brother knew this little-known fact). When his cage door was left hanging open, Skippy would frantically fly through the opening, and find a spot where we couldn't reach him. Skippy spent his early years in my bedroom, but was later moved into the front window, where he could spend his days talking to the other birds. When he escaped from his window spot, Skippy would fly up into my bedroom (quite a flight), where he knew he'd be safe. He would then proceed to do paniced cirlces around the bedroom, dropping droppings all over my in-progress works, and squwaking at the top of his lungs (hence the nick-name).
